Safety attachment for a stove



Jan. 15, 1957 A. MELLO 2,777,316

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR A STOVE Filed June 25, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR 4155/? 7' MEAL 0 01AM mwvm WK! ATTORNEY) Jan. A. MELLO v SAFETYATTACHMENT FOR A STOVE Filed June 25, 1953 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UnitedStates Patent SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR A STOVE Albert Mello, New Bedford,Mass.

Application June 23, 1953, Serial No. 363,631 1 Claim. (Cl. 70-177 Thisinvention relates to improvements in locking means for the burner valvehandles of gas ranges and the like, designed to prevent operation of thehandles by children.

The primary object of this invention is to prevent the turning of theburner valve handles of a stove to on position by children.

Another object is to facilitate the rapid release of the burner valvehandles for operation by an adult, and to signal that the burners are incondition for use.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this inventionwhich embodies among its features flat surfaces carried by couplingmembers extending between burner valve units and burner valve controlknobs or handles on a conventional stove, a bar mounted to movetransversely across the coupling members, and flat surfaces carried bythe bar adapted to be moved into and out of engagement with the fiatsurfaces of the coupling members to arrest rotation of the couplingmembers and prevent rotary movement being transmitted from the knobs tothe burner valve units.

Other features include a pin tumbler lock mounted on the stove, an armcarried by the barrel of the pin tumbler lock and pivotally connected tothe bar for shifting said bar longitudinally to move the flat surfacesof the bar into and out of engagement with the flat surfaces of thecoupling members.

Other features include a signal lamp mounted on the stove adjacent theburner valve knobs, a switch mounted on the stove and located in thepath of movement of the bar, said switch being operatively connectedwith the lamp so that when the bar is moved longitudinally to unlock theburner valve units, the lamp will be illuminated.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a stove equipped with locking mechanismin accordance with the present invention, portions of the top of thestove being broken away more clearly to show certain details ofconstruction;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the stove illustrated inFigure 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially onthe line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the locking bar inunlocked position;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken substantiallyon the line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line6-6 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a wiring diagram for the signalling means; and

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 2, showing a modifiedform of locking bar.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is therein shown a stovedesignated generally 10 equipped with gas burners 12 connected throughconventional pipes 14 to control valves 16 having plugs 18 which arerotatable to control the flow of fuel to the burners 12. The valves arecoupled to a conventional fuel supply pipe 20. Connected to the plugs 18and extending through the front wall 15 of the stove are couplings 22carrying at their ends remote from the valves 16 control knobs orhandles 24 which are distributed in a row along the front wall of thestove adjacent the top thereof. The couplings 22 are in the form of flatbars having flat surfaces for a purpose to be more fully hereinafterdescribed.

Mounted on the stove adjacent one end thereof is a substantiallyU-shaped bracket 26 carrying a horizontal guide bar 28 upon which'alocking bar designated generally 30 is mounted to slide. The bar 30comprises an elongated body 32 having adjacent one end an elongatedlongitudinal closed slot 34 receiving the bar 28. The opposite end ofthe "locking bar 30 is coupled through the medium of a pin and slotconnection 36 with the free end of a radial arm 38 carried by the barrel40 of a pin tumbler lock 42 which is mounted on the stove adjacent theend of the locking bar 30 remote from the bracket 26. It will thus beseen that the locking bar 30 may be shifted longitudinally byoscillation of the barrel 40 of the pin tumbler lock 42.

vAs illustrated in the drawings, the locking bar 30 is provided withlongitudinally spaced downwardly opening notches 44 through which extendthe coupling bars 22 and at one side of each notch 44 is a fiat surface46 which, as illustrated in Figure 3, is arranged to engage the flatsurface of a related coupling bar 22 to prevent turning thereof andconsequent opening of the burner valve to which the bar 22 is coupled.When the locking bar 30 is in the position illustrated in Figure 4, thevalves 16 may be opened by rotation of the control knobs 24 thereof butwhen the locking bar 30 is in the position shown in Figure 3, the valves16 and knobs 24 are locked against rotation.

In order to provide a visual indication for enabling a person toascertain whether the mechanism is locked or unlocked, a window 48(Figures 2, 3, 4 and 6) is provided in the front wall 15 of the stove 10and mounted on a suitable bracket 50 (Figures 2, 4 and 6) behind thewindow 48 is an electric lamp 52. A switch 54 is mounted on the stove inthe path of movement of the locking bar 30 adjacent one end thereof andhas a push button 56 which is engaged by and displaced to its offposition in the locking position of the locking bar 30. As the lockingbar 30 is moved to its unlocked position, the button 56 is released toits on position, wherein the lamp 52 is energized.

For controlling and locking the oven burner of the stove 10, to whichburner gaseous fuel is supplied through a valve 60 from a pipe 58, thevalve 60 is connected to the supply pipe 20, and is provided with arotatable plug 62 which is connected through a suitable coupling link 64with the barrel of a pin tumbler lock 66 carried by the front wall ofthe stove, as illustrated in Figure 5. The pin tumbler lock 66 isprovided with the control knob 68 by means of which the cylinder thereofcan be rotated when the lock is in unlocked condition so as to turn thecoupling member 64 and plug 62 so as to regulate the flow of fuelthrough the pipe 58.

In the modified form of the invention, illustrated in Figure 8, thelocking bar 30' is provided with flat surfaces 46 for engaging thecoupling bars 22 when the coupling bar 30 is in locked position. Formedintermediate the ends of the bar 30 is a depending U-shaped yoke 70which is designed to provide clearance from a thermostat 72 which may belocated midway between opposite ends of the stove.

In use it will be obvious that upon inserting a key into the lock 42,the barrel 40 thereof may be rotated to shift the bar 30 to the right asviewed in Figures 3 and 4 to disengage the stop surfaces 46 from thecoupling bars 22 and permit the coupling bars to turn in the notches 44.Obviously, upon the shifting of the locking bar 30 to the right, asviewed in Figure 4, the switch 54 will be operated to energize the lamp52 and provide a visual indication that the burner control units 16 areunlocked and ready for use. When it is desired to lock the units toprevent tampering with and possible opening of the burners, the lockbarrel 40 is turned to the left, as suggested in Figure 3, to shift thebar 30 to the left, and cause the stop surfaces 46 to engage thecoupling bars 22 to lock the burner control units and their controlknobs against rotation. Obviously, when the bar 30 is shifted to theleft, the switch 54 will be operated to discontinue the tlow ofelectrical energy to the lamp 52.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and de-' scribed thepreferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood thatminor changes in the details of construction, combination andarrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

In combination, a support, a valve mounted on the support, a rotatableplug controlling the valve, a cou pling bar having a first end connectedto said plug and a second end, a knob secured on said second end, alocking bar having first and second ends, said locking bar extendingcrosswise of said coupling bar, means mounting said first end of thelocking bar on said support for endwise movement in opposite directionsfrom a locked position to an unlocked position, an opening in saidlocking bar through which said coupling bar extends, said opening havingedges out of contact with said coupling bar in the unlocked position ofthe locking bar, said opening having a stop edge, said knob and couplingbar being rotatable together to closed position in which the burnervalve is closed, said stop edge being positioned to engage a side of thecoupling bar only in the locked position of the locking bar wherebyrotation of the coupling bar is precluded, said means comprising an armpivoted to said second end of the locking bar and to said support, andactuating means connected to said arm to swing said arm for moving thelocking bar endwise between its locked and unlocked positions.

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